Manufacture of new or improved fabrics



Patented Nov. 29, 1932 UN er I ice VIILLIAM ALEXANDER DICKIE AND HARDL1) HALKYARD, OF SPONDON, NEAR DERBY,

. ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS' TO CELANESE CORPORATION OF AMERICA, A CORPORATIONOF DELAWARE MANUFACTURE OF NEW 0R IMPROVED FABRICS No Drawing.Application filed March 17, 199:7, Se

This invention relates to woven, knitted or other fabrics composedwholly or partly of yarns consisting of or comprising filaments ofcellulose esters, such as cellulose acetate, or other carboxylic esters,or cellulose ethers, such as ethyl, methyl, benzyl or other esters, orother thermoplastic cellulose derivatives.

The object of this invention is the production on fabrics of the classreferred to, of patterns, ornaments, figures or designs, or crepe orother embossed effects, which are not removable by ordinary launderingoperations, and the production of which is not accompanied bysubstantial weakening of the strength of the fabric.

According to this invention the fabric is wetted, damped or impregnatedwith a volatile liquid (hereinafter termed a wetting liquid) which doesnot dissolve the cellulos derivative, but which acts as a swelling orsoftening agent for the same, and the fabric is afterwards subjected,While still wet, to the local application of pressure at suchtemperatures as will enable the desired ornamental effect to beimpressed on and permanently retained by the fabric.

The treatment of the fabric with the wetting liquid results in atemporary loss of rigidity, tensile strength, elasticity and similarcharacteristic properties, so that the fabric readily acquires thepattern or takes the form imparted under the application of pressure andheat. After the evaporation of the volatile liquid, the pattern ordesign becomes permanent and the tensile strength, elasticity and otherproperties of the fabric restored.

Any suitable device capable of forming the desired pattern or embossedeffect with the aid of applied pressure and heat may be employed.

Conveniently, the fabrics are subjected to the action of heated rollers,plates, or other devices which are engraved or otherwise formed so as toproduce any desired design or embossed effect.

rial No. 176,282,'and in Great Britain April 1, 1926.

The invention is more especially applicable for the production ofornamented or embossed designs On fabrics consisting wholly or partly offilaments of cellulose acetate, and is described hereinafter in itsapplication to such fabrics.

The volatile wetting liquid used for the treatment of fabrf cscomprising cellulose acetate filaments may consist of a singlesubstance, such as water, which is not a solvent for cellulose acetate,and which exerts a swelling action at increased temperature. It isfound, however, that the use of water alone leads to undesirable lossesof strength in the fabric.

The volatile wetting liquid may consist of a volatile liquid which isneither asolvent nor a swelling agent for cellulose acetate (such forexample as benzene, toluene, gasolene or other volatile hydrocarbon),together with a volatile liquid which is a solvent for cellulose acetate(such for example as acetone, cyclohexanone, diacetone alcohol,acetoacetic ester, ethyl lactate, or acetic acid).

The proportion of volatile solvent used should be such that theresulting solution does not dissolve the cellulose acetate or otherw sematerially impair the structure or strength. of the cellulose acetatefilaments.

Instead of a volatile solvent, a volatile swelling agent, such asalcohol, water, or a. swelling solution such as a solution in water oralcohol, of an agent such as ammonium thiocyanate or stannic chloridethat can subsequently be removed by washing, may be employed, providedthat its use is not attended by risk of damage to the pressure plates orother pressure devices.

Instead of a volatile liqui d which is neither a solvent nor a swellingagent for cellulose acetate, a volatile liquid which is not a solventfor cellulose acetate but which may act as a swelling agent for thesame, may be employed. Thus a mixture of water and a volatile solventfor cellulose acetate, or an aqueous solution of an agent such asammonium thiocyanate or stannic chloride to form a swelling solution,may be used for wetting the fabrics prior to the formation of thepattern or embossed effect by the local application of heat andpressure.

Non-volatile plastifiers, such as triacetin, monomethyl xylenesulphonamide, etc. may be added to the volatile wetting liquid in orderto produce a softer handle and a more supple fabric, particularly when avigorous embossing effect is desired.

Lubricants such as olec acid, olive oil or ammonium oleate may beincorporated in the volatile wetting liquid, with or without anon-volatile plastilier, in order to reduce internal friction in thefabrics and ena is same readily to conform to the contour of therollers, plates or other dev'ces used for ornamenting or embossingpurposes, thereby minimizing any danger of the fabric being damaged. Theuse of a lubricant also tends to prevent the threads from becoming fusedor partially fused together.

Although as stated in the preceding description the use of wa r alone asthe volatile wetting liquid s undesirable, it is found that satisfactoryresults can be obtained by the use of water in conjunction with alubricant.

In the case of liquids that are not capa le of mixing to form asolution, it is desirable to form them into an emulsion or suspens'ou bythe use of small quantiiies of an emulsi fying agent s ch as ammoniumoleate.

Any suitable devices may be employed for embossing or impressing thepattern or ornament with the aid of heat upon the fabrics referred to:For example, the fabric may be passed between heated rollers, one orboth of which is or are engraved or otherwise formed with the requiredpattern or ornament in relief or in intaglio, or between one such rollerand a heated plate or surface, or it may be pressed between two heatedplates or surfaces or over devices one or both of which bear the patternor design to be impressed on the fabric or one such heated roller, plateor other device may be used in conjunction with an unheated roller,plate or device, the pattern or design to be impressed on the fabricbeing usually borne by the heated roller or other device.

' Instead of engraved plates or rollers, plain plates or rollers may beused in conjunction with an independent device for forming the desiredornamental eifect. For instance a very fine artificial cr pe eii'ectpermanent to washing is produced by means of sheets of woven 'Monelmetal gauze conveniently by passing the fabric together with a band ofthe metal gauze between plain heated rollers.

The degrees of heat and pressure employed may vary according to thesoftening or swelling effect produced by the wetting liquid, less heator less pressure sufficing for agiven eit- Example 1 A woven or knittedfabric, composed of cellulose acetate yarns, 1s dipped into a solutionconsisting of t Benzene 100 ccs. Alcohol 1 cc.

Monomethylxylenesulphonamide 1 grm. Olive oil 2 grins.

T he excess of wetting liquid is removed by wringing or centrifugi g, sothat the fabric contains about its own weight of wetting liquid.

The fabric is then passed slowly between a pair of steel or otherrollers, one or both of which is or are formed with a desired pat ern ordesign, the rollers being heated to about 110-120 (1., and exerting apressure of about 200 to 300 lbs. per sq. in., or the fabric may bepressed between two heated plates, one

or both of which bear the desired pattern, for

about 2 minutes at temperatures of about 110120 G, a pressure of 200lbs. 00600 lbs. per sq. in. being used.

Example 2 A fabric consisting of cellulose acetate is treated under thesame condtions as in'Example 1, after wetting with the following liquidWater 100 'c'cs. Sodium o'leate 0.5 grin. Olive oil 0.5 grin.

Eocample 5 A cellulose acetate fabric is Wetted with a mixtureconta1n1ng:

Benzene 100 ccs. Water 2 cos. Ethyl lactate 1 cc.

% ammonium oleate 6 grms.

The subsequent procedure is the same as that following in accordancewith Example 1. If the handle of the fabric has been affeotedby'theoperation, washing with a soap solution for about 5 minutes at C.is sufficient to restore the suppleness of the fabric.

While it is not usually necessary to employ more than a small proportionof the volatile solvent or other substances added to the water or benZolor other volatile non-solvent to constitute the wetting liquid, theinventionis not limited in this respect provided that the Too quantitiesadded are not suflicient to cause injury to the physical qualities ofthe fabric.

The invention may be applied to fabric consisting wholly of filaments ofcellulos v acetate or other thermoplastic cellulose derivatives, or tomixed fabrics containing yarns of cotton, silk, wool, artificial silk ofthe cellulose type, or other non-thermoplastic fibres or filaments, orcomprising mined yarns containing non-thermoplastic fibres or filamentsdoubled or associated with filaments of thermoplastic cellulosederivatives.

The invention also includes th embossed, creped or otherwise ornamentedor patterned fabrics produced by the process hereinbefore described.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the use ofthe particular volatile liquids, swelling-agents, plastifiers orlubricants specified in the foregoing description, but that any volatileliquid materials or compositions which do not dissolve the cellulosederivative or derivatives of which the fabric under treatment is whollyor partly composed, and which act as swelling or softening agents forthe same, with or without any suitable lubricants or nonvolatileplastifiers, may be used for wettino the fabric prior to the formationof the embossed or other ornamental effect by the local application ofheat and pressure. I

The expression a liquid which is capable of forming a solution with thecellulose derivative is used in the appended claims to denote a liquidwhich is a solvent or a swelling agent (that is to say a solute) for thecellulose derivative; similarly, the expression a liquid which isincapable of forming a solution with the cellulose derivative is used todenote a liquid which is neither a solvent nor a swelling agent for thecellulose derivative.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 2- 1. A processfor the ornamentation of fabrics containing filaments comprising athermoplastic cellulose derivative, which comprises wetting said fabricwith a volatile swelling-liquid containing a volatile liquid which is anon-solvent for the cellulose derivative and a volatile liquid which iscapable of forming a solution with the cellulose derivative, andproducing a design thereon' swelling-liquid containing a volatile liquidwhich is incapable of forming a solution with the cellulose derivativeand a volatile liquid which is capable of forming a solution with thecellulose derivative, and producing a de sign thereon by the localapplication ofhe'at and pressure to said wetted fabric.

3. A process for the ornamentation of fabrics containing filamentscomprising a thermoplastic cellulose derivative, which comprises wettingsaid fabric with a volatile swelling-liquid containing a volatile liquidwhich is incapable of forming a solution with the cellulose derivativeanda volatile liquid which is a swelling agent for the cellulosederivative, and forming a design thereon by the local application. ofheat and pressure to said wetted fabric.

4. A process for the ornamentation of fabrics containingfilamentscomprising a thermoplastic cellulose derivative, which comprises wettingsaid fabric with a volatile swelling-liquid containing a volatile liquidwhich is a nonsolvent for the cellulosederivative and a volatile liquidwhich is a swell: ing agent for the cellulose derivative, and producinga design thereon by the local application of heat and pressure to saidwetted fabric.

5. A process for the ornamentation of fabrics containing filamentscomprising cellulose acetate, which comprises wetting said fabric with avolatile swelling-liquid containing a volatile liquid which is anon-solvent for the cellulose derivative and a volatile liquid which isa swelling agent for the cellulose acetate, and producing a designthereon by the local application of heat and pressure to said wettedfabric.

6. A process for the ornamentation of fabrics containing filamentscomprising a thermoplastic cellulose derivative, which comprises Wettingsaid fabric with a volatile liquid which is a swelling agent for thecellulose derivative together with a lubricant, and producing a designthereon by the local application of heat and pressure to said wettedfabric. 7

7 A process for the ornamentation of fabrics containing filamentscomprising a thermoplastic cellulose derivative, which comprises wettingsaid fabric with a volatile swelling liquid which is a swelling agentfor the cellulose derivative together with a lubricant and aplasticizer, and producing a design thereon by the local application ofheat and pressure to said wetted fabric.

8. A process for the ornamentation of fabrics containing filamentscomprising cellulose acetate, which comprises wetting said fabric with avolatile swelling-liquid containing a volatile hydrocarbon and avolatile swelling agent for the cellulose acetate, and producing adesign thereon by the local application of heat and pressure to saidwetted fabric.

9. A process for the ornamentation of fabrics containing filamentscomprising cellulose acetate, which comprises wetting said fabric with avolatile swelling-liquid containing aovolatile hydrocarbon and alcohol,and producing a design thereon by the local application of heat andpressure to sa1d Wetted fabric.

10. A process for the ornamentation of fabrics containing filamentscomprising cellulose acetate, which comprises Wetting said fabric With avolatile swelling-liquid containing a volatile hydrocarbon and alcoholtogether With a lubricant, and producing a design thereon by the localapplication of heat and pressure to said Wetted fabric.

11. A process for the ornamentation of fabrics containing filamentscomprising cellulose acetate, Which comprises Wetting said fabric with avolatile swelling-liquid containing avolatile hydrocarbon andalcohol-together with a lubricant and a plasticizer, and producing a,design thereon by the local application of heat and pressure to saidwetted fabric.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto I subscribed our names.

WILLIAM ALEXANDER DICKIE. v HAROLD HALKYARD.

